All Aadhaar Users May Soon be Able to Opt Out, Get Their Data Deleted from UIDAI Servers

All Aadhaar Users May Soon be Able to Opt Out, Get Their Data Deleted from UIDAI Servers

New Delhi: In what could prove to be a landmark move, the citizens may soon get an option to withdraw their Aadhaar number, including biometrics and the data from the servers of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

The government is in the last stages of finalising a proposal to amend the Aadhaar Act, following Supreme Court’s order to uphold it but with conditions, said a report in The Hindu.

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This development comes after the Supreme Court’s September ruling that upheld the validity of Aadhaar, however, with certain riders. In a nutshell, the ruling said that while Aadhaar is constitutionally valid, it is not mandatory for all services.

The initial UIDAI proposal suggested that once a child turns 18, he/she be given six months to decide if he/she wants to withdraw from Aadhaar. But the Law Ministry further recommended that the option to withdraw be made available to all citizens, and not be limited to a particular group.

However, this proposal comes with a downside. If a person opts out of the Aadhaar scheme, he/she won’t be able to avail those government schemes and subsidies wherein Aadhaar linkage is still mandatory. The move is likely to benefit only those who do not have a PAN card or do not require one, as the court had upheld the linkage of PAN with Aadhaar.